Metallic railway-tie.



No. 770,259.- I PATENTED SEPT. 20, 1904. W. E. BURGESS.

METALLIC RAILWAY TIE. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 14. 1903.

NO MODEL.

FIG. 1.

FIG. 2.

FIG. 7..

11V VENTon FIG. 6.

WITJESSES.

2J4 ,BYM ATI' 'EY.

UNITED STATES Patented September 20, 1904.

PATENT OEEicE.

METALLIC RAILWAY-TIE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 770,259, dated September 20, 1904. Application filed August 14:, 1903. Serial No. 169,415. (No model.)

To all whont it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM EDWARD BUR- enss, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Joseph, in the county of Buchanan and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Metallic Railway- Ties; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specificaton.

My invention relates to improvements in metallic railway-ties; and the main objects of the invention are, first, to provide a metallic railway-tie upon which the rails may be secured without screws or bolts and nuts, as those are apt to work loose, besides being expensive; second, to provide a metallic railway-' tie with means whereby the rails may be firmly and safely held in a readily-detachab1e manner for exchange or removal when so desired. These objects I attain by the novel construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view of one of my improved ties with a pair of rails secured thereon. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the tie in Fig. 1 with the rails thereon. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical central section through the tie.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the tie without rails. Fig. 5 is a sectional side view on the line a a in Fig. I with the rail in place. Fig. 6 is a side elevation of a portion of the tie with a slight modification in the rail spike and chair. Fig. 7 is a side view of the tie with a modification in the part of it forming the rail-chair. Fig. 8 is a detail view of one of the spikes and the key by which it is secured in the tie. Fig. 9 is Fig. 8 seen from the right, and Fig. 10 is Fig. 9 modified as in Fig. 6.

Referring to the drawings by reference-numerals, 1 designates my improved railway-tie, which may be formed in any suitable manner from any suitable metal. Preferably it may be cast from steel or malleable iron or even cast-iron, if made heavy enough. As shown in Fig. 4, the tie is of an almost triangular cross-section and hollow at its under side, so

that the road-bed may be tamped freely up into it to support it. The sides of the tie are protected against spreading by the transverse braces 2, directly below the rails, and the braces 3, closing the ends of the tie. Integrally with the tie is formed near each end thereof a rail-chair 4, level at its top and formed with vertical apertures or pockets 5, into which the spikes 6 are placed adjacent the flanges 7 of the rails 8. Each spike is formed with an aperture 9 for the reception of a wedge-shaped key 10, having a notch 11 in the upper edge of its outer end. This key is inserted and driven into the horizontal aperture 12 in the rail -chair so that it passes through the inserted spike and holds it firmly. In such inserted position the key is held by a latch 13, pivoted at 14: to the adjacent face of the rail-chair, so that the key cannot possibly work out accidentally; but if the spike is to be removed the latch may be swung on its pivot to one side, as in dotted line in Fig. 6,

and the key may then be withdrawn by a suitable tool. Such tool may be a simple wedge or chisel forced between the rail-chair and the hook 15, formed at the outer end of the key. (See to the left in Fig. In Figs. 6 and 10 is shown that the key 10 may be inserted from the side of the spike, if so desired, and the latch 13 will then be upon the side instead of the end of the rail-chair.

In the modification of the rail-chair shown in Fig. 7 the chair is not so solid as in the other figures, but is formed with a level top 16, supported by ribs 17 18 and may also have a central rib 19. In this case the aperture 12 for the key 10 is only formed in the ribs 17 and 18, and the spike 6 is steadied by said ribs after insertion downward through the top 16.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'

1. The combination with a metallic railwaytie of rail-chairs formed upon it, the same being provided with vertical pockets or apertures for rail-holding spikes or hooks, and with the horizontal apertures intersecting the vertical apertures, spikes placed in the vertical apertures and having holes registering with the horizontal apertures in the chair, and wedgeshaped keys inserted into the horizontal apertures, and pivoted latches holding the keys in place.

5 2. The combination with a metallic railwaytie of rail-chairs formed upon it, the same being provided with vertical pockets or apertures for rail-holding spikes or hooks, and with the horizontal apertures intersecting the vertical apertures spikes placed in the vertical apertures and having holes registering with the horizontal apertures in the chair, and wedgeshaped keys inserted into the horizontal apertures, and pivoted latches holding the keys in place; each of said keys having near its outer end a hook or shoulder to be engaged in extracting the key.

3. A metallic railway-tie consisting mainly of an elongated inverted shallow box having flaring sides and internal braces to prevent spreading of the sides, and rail-chairs upon the tie, the same having a level top supported by vertical ribs. and apertures to receive the rail-spikes down between the ribs, and keyholes horizontally through the ribs in vertical line with the apertures for the spikes, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM EDWARD BURGESS.

Witnesses: I J ACOB O'HASNQFF, WILLIAM A. 'GIERKE. 

